Heroes and Demons
by whistlerstwin
Summary: Spoilers Oneshot featuring the aftermath of Claire's experience. Niki's also a featured player but no femslash. Due to the nature of the beast, it might be considered a touchy subject for some people.


A/N: Inherent Spoilers. Kind of a oneshot. Niki found Claire before the others, after the attempted rape and is the closest of the Heroes to Claire. In this world, Claire never sees Brody again after the incident and she doesn't crash the car into the wall. Niki comes before that. Claire and Niki and the others all live together in some magic house I made up. DISCLAIMER: I do not own! If I did, do you think I would be makin this stuff up? Nooooo cos NBC would be payin me:)

Personal Demons/Personal Heroes

Claire screamed and ran. She was in her high school again, running down the hall, past rows of lockers. As she passed each classroom door, she tried the knobs, hoping that just one would be open and she would be able to hide from him. Finally, one of the doors did open and she flew inside. She shut the door carefully and went to the back of the classroom. The classroom had no windows and no other doors, except a closet in the back, so if he found her…Claire put her back to the wall, so that she could see if, no, _when_ he came for her. He always came for her. Suddenly, the door flew open and he stood there with the same cruel grin she had seen for the past several nights. He knew he had her and Claire began crying.

"C'mon, Claire," Brody said. "Don't be like that. You know you can't rape the willing…" He reached for her. Claire screamed and woke up, gasping for air.

Niki sat on the couch and helped Hiro and Peter fold the fresh laundry. She had laughed earlier when Hiro had offered to help her but had been surprised when he knew how to use the ancient machine she called a washer. She had thanked him and he had just smiled knowingly. Now, they were finishing up the last load and watching the Late Late Show. It was humor and they all needed a good laugh right about now. Micah had been asleep for several hours and Claire had said good night about two hours ago. Peter made some popcorn, just as the second half of the show started. Niki picked up Micah and Claire's laundry and went down the hall to deliver it to them. Niki checked up on Micah before putting his laundry away. She smiled to herself. Her little wonder boy slept like a rock. She left his room and went to Claire's. She paused at the door, wondering if Claire was still awake. She decided to just leave the clothing at the door and bent down to do that when she heard a noise from inside the room. Was Claire crying? Niki knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Claire?" There was no answer and the sounds seemed to stop. Quietly, Niki cracked the door open. Light spilled from the hallway into Claire's room. "Claire?" Niki called again. She could barely make out the girl's small form in the bed.

Claire lay still, not sure if she wanted to see Niki or not. She felt Niki's hesitance and knew the woman didn't want to disturb her for nothing.

"Honey, if you're awake, I'm just going to leave these on your desk," Niki half-whispered. She walked quietly to the desk and turned to look at the figure one more time. Now she could see Claire's face, barely sticking out from under the comforter. She had definitely been crying.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Niki said, approaching the bed. She clicked on the lamp beside the girl's bed. Claire's face was shiny with sweat and there were tear marks on both sides of her face.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Niki asked patiently.

Claire nodded and sat up, pulling her legs to her chest as Niki sat on the edge of the bed. "I…I just had a nightmare," Claire explained, her eyes downcast.

"That must've been some nightmare, to scare you after all this. What was it about?"

Claire shifted her weight and started fidgeting with the edge of the comforter. "I…Niki, it was really terrifyin'…" Claire stopped again. Could she tell Niki? Would she believe her?

"Honey, I see you thinking in there. You really can tell me what happened," Niki said, sensing that this nightmare was not the normal kind.

Claire looked at the woman. She was shivering and she couldn't seem to stop. She took a deep breath. "Niki, before you met me…" Claire trailed off again. Niki looked at her patiently. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I just was worried, that's all," Niki said, looking at the girl with kind eyes.

Claire took another breath. "Before all of this, before you met me, I was just a normal kid. Well," Claire rolled her eyes, "besides discoverin' I was indestructible, I mean. Anyway, there was this bonfire that my cheerleadin' friends were going to be at. I went and…there was this guy, named Brody. He was 'that guy,' the one with the nice smile, popular, the quarterback for our football team." Niki watched her young friend carefully. Claire dropped her eyes to her hands which had stopped fidgeting. "He handed me a drink and we went away from the fire. I don't even remember what he said," Claire whispered. She was upset and embarrassed, but she pressed on. "We were…" Claire paused, looking at Niki. She expected to see a raised eyebrow or a judging look. Instead, Niki was just watching her, understanding clear in her eyes. "We started makin' out and I told him to stop. He got worse and worse. I tried to run but he knocked me down and…" Niki saw the tears rolling down Claire's face, but didn't stop her words. "He tried to rape me," Claire half-sobbed. She looked up at Niki as the woman opened her arms. Claire all but lunged at her and Niki pulled the girl into herself, letting her cry as much as she needed to. At last, Claire pulled away. "Y'know what the funniest thing is about the whole thing?" Niki didn't respond, thinking none of it was funny. "The only reason he stopped is because he killed me. My power saved me…again." Claire looked at Niki. For a second, she thought she saw someone else behind Niki's eyes, but as quickly as she had seen it, it was gone.

"Niki, I'm sorry," Claire said, pulling away from the woman. Niki held onto her.

"Claire, you don't have to pull away," Niki said. "And you have nothing to apologize for. What this bastard did to you is not your fault. You're safe now and you never have to deal with him again. I want you to know you can always talk to me, even if you're not sure you can. You can trust me," Niki finished. Claire had relaxed against her and Niki realized the girl had fallen asleep. Niki smiled and tucked her back into bed, turning the light off and closing the door behind her. She went into the computer room and sat down at the desk, moving the mouse and allowing the machine to come back to life. There was a small mirror on the wall behind the computer. Niki looked at her reflection. The image smiled malevolently at her and spoke quietly. "You dealt with the situation your way. Now, it's _my_ turn," it said as Niki's hands moved over the keyboard, looking for Brody's address. Niki's other-half smiled as she thought of the question Claire asked her before going to bed: "What's your power again?"

Mwahaha :) Hope you liked it. Please review.


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